We are set to enter the second stage of the Vivo IPL 2018, with the Kings XI Punjab traveling to Delhi to take on the Delhi Daredevils. The last time these two sides, KL Rahul pulverized the Daredevils bowling attack into submission with a 13 ball 50.

Punjab has been on quite a roll since then and with the addition of Chris Gayle into the mix, they boast of one of the most formidable opening partnership in the tournament, and with the presence of Nair, Agarwal, Finch, and Yuvraj in the middle-order, the team has adopted an aggressive approach, only to hide the deficiencies in their bowling department.

Where: Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

When: 23 April 2018, 8:00 PM

While Tye and Mujeeb have impressed with their guile and skills, the Indian bowlers in KXIP’s rank have leaked runs at over 8.50 per over. The management benched Mohit Sharma in favor of Ankit Rajpoot, who was expensive in the last match, and if it was not for Gayle and Rahul’s shenanigans and some lackluster batting by KKR in the death overs, KXIP would have have been in for a hiding.

For the hosts, they would be looking to bank on their home-leg to redeem what has been another disappointing campaign thus far. With just a solitary win in five games, Delhi is languishing at the bottom of the table. Apart from the brilliance of Jason Roy against Mumbai, and Trent Boult’s bowling at the top, nothing has gone right for the Daredevils, the form of Gambhir being the most pivotal. However, they’d be relieved with the maturity that Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer displayed against RCB, only to be overshadowed by AB de Villiers brilliance.

Their bowlers have had far too many off days, while the batters have been far from consistent, often leaning on one-star performance to bail them out. That sees them looking up at all the other teams with just one win in five games. Their only hope remains their home leg. They haven’t yet played a game at the Feroz Shah Kotla and will want to ensure they turn the ground into a fortress, and renew their chances in the league.

Pitch Conditions: Though the pitch at the Kotla largely favors the batsman, in the past few years it has proceeded to remain slow and sluggish with slow-bowlers with all their subtle variations like cutters and knuckleball coming into play.

Statistics over the years: While over the past ten years, the average first innings score has swelled from 167 to 179, the team batting first has won 47.9% times (35) while the side chasing has a winning percentage of 49.3% (36) and 2 matches have resulted in a tie or washout.

Team News:

Delhi Daredevils:

Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar and Harshal Patel are all not certain in the playing XI.

Chris Morris is likely to keep his place.

Liam Plunkett, Daniel Christian, Colin Munro and Sandeep Lamichhane are all in contention of playing.